This post is my year-end review on life, goals, finances and more for 2017.

 

Consider this as a quick overview on how the past 365 days went for me, financially and how I’m planning my money in 2018 to be.

I’ve done this kind of post every single year since starting SavingsPinay. You can read and open in new tab my 2014, 2015 and 2016 year-end review if you want.

A financial review is a must to do now that a New Year has begun.

 

It gives you a summary of your successes and lessons learned for the past year. It also sets a positive benchmark of success for 2018, guiding you towards a clear path you should be heading in the 365 days ahead.

I had a Mid-Year Financial Review last June, so this post would mainly focus on what happened to the next actions I set to myself. Have I finished 2017 strong like how I intended it to be?

 

At the end of the post,  I will also walk you through my financial goals this 2018 and how I’m accomplishing each of them

Just like the others, I am claiming for financial success in 2018.

 

I want to save more than what I earn, get stable extra income through my side hustles, diversify my investments on other vehicles and make some milestone purchases like furniture.

So without further ado, let’s begin!

 

Related Posts:

How To Get Rid of Debt and Reclaim Your Finances

How To Save Money Each Month : A Definitive Guide for Pinoys

If You Are Living on One Income, You’re Doing It Wrong

 

 

 

2017 Year in Review

 

Whenever I do my year-end review on life, goals, finances and more I mainly focus in checking the progress and necessary adjustments I can do with the following:

 

• The goals I have set for the year and what happened to them
• The way I I’ve been spending my money, in general
• The progress I’m making on my extra income projects
• The value of my Net Worth now
• The Next Actions of my life a.k.a. To-Do List for the year ahead
  

 

A year-end review takes on an hour or less to finish, and I highly recommend you do the same for your finances. Pick a specific date this January (the earlier, the better) where you can sit down and conduct a financial audit.

 

If you want a guidelines you can use the The Mid-Year Financial Review Workbook Bundle included in the SavingsPinay Resource Library.

The Mid-Year Financial Review Workbook Bundle includes the following:

 

1. SMARTER Goals Worksheet

 

Are you struggling in reaching your financial goals? Then maybe you need to revisit your goals and make them smarter. This worksheet will help you do that exactly. I devise a worksheet that will assist you in goal-setting.

 

2. Spending Habits Review

 

This is one of my favorite worksheet ever! The truth is you will never be good in terms of finances if you don’t get at peace with your spending habits. The Spending Habits Review will reveal who and how you are with your money. All you need to do is to answer with all honesty five questions.

 

3. Side Hustle Worksheet

 

If you are living on one income then you are doing it wrong. I’ve talked about side-hustling every now and then to encourage you to step up and earn extra income too. If you don’t know where to start then this free worksheet is for you. I included helpful tips and questions to ask for you to determine the best side-hustle to have this 2017.

 

4. Calculate Your Net Worth Worksheet

 

Any financial review is not complete without calculating your net worth. This is an essential step to set a map on how your finances should be and would be in the future. The tool included in this free The Mid-Year Financial Review Workbook Bundlewill be your guide in correctly computing your current net worth.

 

5. Next Actions List

 

Lastly, you will get a free My Next Actions List to jot down what your possible area of improvement will be to finish the year strong.

 

 

Again you can download The Mid-Year Financial Review Workbook Bundle at the SavingsPinay Resource Library for free. Sign up now!

2017 Financial Goals Recap

 

For 2017, my main goal is to solidify my financial life.

What do I mean by that?

I want to say goodbye to 2017 with a proper emergency fund, diversified income streams and solid financial outlook.

I should be improving in managing my money instead of the other way around.

Here are my exact goals for 2017:

 

1. Save up for a real emergency fund

2. Open a COL EIP Account and start investing

3. Top up my FAMI-SALEF Investment

4. Become a St. Peter Life Place Seller

5. Save every 20 peso bill in a piggy bank

6. Automate my savings

7. Buy new book/s about personal finance and investing

8. Attend a personal finance seminar

9. Grow extra income to 6 digits

10. Set monthly, weekly and daily budget.

 

Save up for a real emergency fund

 

My target real emergency fund is 60,000php in 2017.

I manage to get as close as 30,000php in the first six months of 2017 but, this figure didn’t move at all after.  

 

The rest of the year was spent increasing my invest portfolio through the extra cash, bonus or 13th month I received.

 

Saving money is a priority, but realizing I have a growing extra income fund ready in case of emergency, I took the leap of faith and literally shop for stocks now that the market is at its best.

 

I try to follow the definition of Paula from Afford Anything, one of the best personal finance blog in my opinion:

 

“Saving money” is any activity that boosts your net worth including:

• Crushing debt
• Investing in real estate, retirement accounts, etc.
• Cash in bank

 

I don’t have any debt so investing is the next best move I can do for my finances. I say this most of the time, you can’t just stop in saving a portion of your income.

 

You should also aim to make your money work for you.

 

So what’s my new goal for 2018?

Hit 60,000php target emergency fund and save it on a passbook savings account by November 2018.

How will I do this?

1. Automatically save 10% of my monthly salary as emergency fund.
2. Add the money I saved doing the invisible money challenge this 2017 to my emergency fund (3,240php in total).
3. Save my 14th month bonus this coming May 2017 as emergency fund.

 

Read Next: 11 Ways To Build an Emergency Fund from Scratch

 

 

Open a direct stock investment account and start investing

It’s been my goal ever since to open an account and invest directly in the Philippine stock market.

 

At the start of 2017, I set my goal to open an Easy Investment Plan (EIP) account with COL Financial. I read many good reviews with COL Financial as a top brokerage company in the country.


But, instead of COL EIP Account I chose to open an account with First Metro Securities and Brokerage Corporation (FMSBC).


COL Financial and FMSBC are both accredited online brokers in the Philippines.  

You can read more about this post on How to Choose Your Stock Broker from Smart Pinoy Investor for more information.

 

I actually received a number of question why I chose First Metro Securities and Brokerage Corp. (FMSBC) instead of COL. Honestly, the main reason is convenience.


March 2017, I got hired at First Metro Asset Management, Inc. (FAMI), a top mutual fund provider. FAMI is sister company with FMSBC and their office is just beside our office.


Opening an account in FMSBC was so easy for me.

 

I just fill-up the online form, printed my answer together with valid identification requirements and waited for my account details to be sent by email.


You can open an account with FMSBC even without any money at all as long as you have a Metrobank Direct account.

 

Since FMSBC is the investment arm of Metrobank, they waive the initial investment. This is such a big factor in my decision to choose FMSBC, no initial amount needed.


Part of my to do list is to invest in Exchange Traded Fund or ETF before 2017 ends, but it didn’t happen. Instead of ETF, I diversified on online farming.

 

Yes, I invested in FarmOn!

If you want to know more about online farming you can check my interview with Geli, a real investor. Her story encouraged me to try investing in online farming too!

In 2018, I want to keep myself invested in the stock market.

But I will be wiser in selecting which stocks to buy. Instead being impulsive, I plan to invest 8,000php every four months on stock market.


How will I do this?

1. Transfer 10% of my monthly salary to FMSBC online account and wait for it to reach 8,000php before buying any stocks.

Top Up My FAMI-SALEF Investment

2017 has been a remarkable year for my fund investment.

 

I opened my equity investment in 2014 reserving it as part of my retirement account. It was slow growth, not going to lie and I even loss around 2,000PHP++ in 2016!


Still I continued to top up on my FAMI-SALEF investment every month. Redeeming wasn’t part of my plan.


Now I’m happy to report that my equity investment just keeps on improving and gaining.

 

From 19% Year-to-Date Mid-Year gain to 21.50% closing YTD return. You can take a look at the Best Mutual Fund in the Philippines 2018 – Year-End Update for complete view of the performance.

 

The shares I own from 2014 (the year I started) to 2016 was a total of 6,080 with value of Php 29, 827.26php.


As 2017 ends, I now have 9, 378 shares with a total value (based on the current NAVPS) of Php 56,381.27php.

 

I almost doubled my money in just a year!

My story clearly proves how investing early, investing regularly and investing for long-term works!

So what’s my new goal for 2018?

Invest in index fund by first quarter of 2018.


How will I do this?

I already set my heart and my mind to invest in Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Index Fund. The NAVPS is still 1php/share rate giving me more value for money. Plus, the return of investment based on ranking last year is really good.

Become a St. Peter Life Plan Seller

All of us in the family have our own St. Peter Life Plan.

It was my parents who first invested in their own life plan and encouraged us, siblings, to each have our own.


Life plans are considered pre-need plans designed to help a plan holder prepare for specific future needs such as death, education or retirement.

For 650pesos every month you’ll get a lot of benefits already.

 

I know it sounds morbid to talk about death but estate planning is a vital part of one’s personal finance. For more information about St. Peter Life Plan and how to avail one click here.

If you want to avail a St. Peter Life Plan all you have to do is fill-up this form and I will contact you within 2-3 business days to schedule a visit and provide you with account opening forms.

My new goal for 2018, is to invest in life insurance next by first quarter of 2018.


How will I do this?

1. I am still shopping for what life insurance to buy. I will share to you in a separate post the life insurance I’ve been eyeing that you may find fit if you are like me who’s in your 20’s, doesn’t smoke and single with no dependents.

2. I am firm in buying a term life insurance and invest the rest in a separate investment vehicle rather than a Value-Added Life Insurance. More about this strategy in the post on life insurance soon.

 

Save every 20peso bill in a piggy bank

 

Just like last year, I did the invisible money challenge and saved every 20peso bill I have in a piggy bank.


This is the only saving money challenge I have found the most success with.

How I do it?

Every 20peso bill that comes in my hand are considered invisible right away. I keep them all and put it on an alkansiya as part of my savings.

I recently opened my alkansiya for 2017 and made a video you can watch:

Do you want to join any saving challenge this year?

If yes then here are some of my helpful tips:

1. Have an end-goal in mind.

Make sure you are clear with your purpose why you’re doing the saving challenge. Will you use the money as emergency fund? Is it for your travel fund in 2019? Or do you want to buy a branded bag?

2. Have an accountability partner.

Having someone to join you in the money challenge is a great way to stick with the plan. You can talk to your spouse, bf/gf or your brother or sister if they want to join the money challenge with you.

3. Start now.

Just like the famous Chinese proverb, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” If you are really working in saving more money this 2018 then better start now!

For 2018, I’m continuing the money challenge but this time I will try the 52-week Money Challenge in 20php increment instead.

Doing the 52-week Money Challenge in 20php increment will give me 27,560php at the end of 2018.

 

How will I do this?

I have no idea if I can really pull of this money challenge but if I do, it would be a big accomplishment on my part. I plan to use the money to do a South East Asia exploration in 2019.

 

Automate my savings

I am pretty good when it comes with automating my savings.

I’ve been doing this since 2015 and it did help me manage my money better.

Every payday, I automatically save and invest a portion of my monthly salary to my emergency fund, equity fund and stock investment.

For 2017, I’ve been saving and investing 30% of my salary.

 

This is a good number, but for 2018 I want to increase my saving percentage.

My new goal for 2018, is to increase my saving and investing percentage for 1% every month.

How will I do this?

1. With 30% as my starting point, I will save an additional 1% every month to really boost my savings and investments this year.

So for January 2018, I will allot 31% of my salary to save and invest.

By doing, at the end of 2018 I will be saving and investing up to 42% of my monthly salary.

 

Buy new book/s about personal finance and investing

 

One of my best read for 2017 is Marvin Germo’s Smart Stock Investing.

 

The book provides easy to apply concepts about investing stocks. It really helped me survive my first six months investing in the Philippine stock market.

I am a strong believer that the more you know, the better.

 

Buying and reading books especially about personal finance and investing gave me a better understanding on what I should do and not do financially.

For 2018, instead of buying books I will read ebook instead and create a book review post to share what I learned.

I plan to do this for my email list only, so if you are still not part you can sign up here.

How will I do this?

I found some good personal finance and investing books in the web and would schedule reading them one by one in the next month/s to come.

 

Here are 10 of the ebooks I will be reading:

1. Zero to One by Peter Thiel

2. The Success Principles by Jack Canfield

3. The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John Bogle

4. Rich Dad’s Cashflow Quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki

5. Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker

6. Unfair Advantage by Robert Kiyosaki

7. The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing by Taylor Larimore, Mel Lindauer, Michael LeBoeuf

8. The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley and William Danko

9. Awaken the Giant Within by Anthony Robbins

10. The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham

Attend a personal finance seminar

 

I wasn’t able to attend any personal finance seminar in 2017 but, something big happened to me in September.

I was fortunate to be one of the resource speaker in iBlog 13, the 13th Philippine Blogging Summit at the UP College of Law’s Malcom Theatre.

 

My talk is about the Rise of Financial Blogging in the Philippines and it was perceived well by the audience.

Public speaking is not something new to me. I’ve been an event emcee for all occasion in the past seven years and it’s a side hustle I will forever be thankful for.

 

My new goal for 2018, is to host my own personal finance seminar/workshop/. This is part of my priorities this year and something I really want to check-off.

How will I do this?

First, I need to come up with a topic to talk about. My plan is to focus on the basics of personal finance such as budgeting, saving money and investing.

A 3-in-1 seminar/workshop that would help introduce the core lessons on managing one’s finances.

Is this something you’re interested? Let me know in the comment section below!

 

Grow extra income to 6-digits

 

 

My Extra Income projects include blogging (SavingsPinay and IzzaGlino), my weddings and events business, YouTube and freelance content writing.

 

When I did my mid-year review I was pumped up in my goal of finishing the year strong with 6-digits mark on my extra income.

Sadly, this goal was an epic fail.

All the tasks I should have done for my extra income projects were put on hold.

 

This 2018, I need to double the time and effort I put in my weddings and events business, YouTube Channel and freelance content writing hustle.

 

2017 turned out to be the greatest year for my blogging career so my only hope is to really continue making progress for my blogs.

 

For 2018, I want to continue hustling and finally reach my goal of a six-digit extra income fund.

How will I do this?

 

The success of my extra income projects depends a lot on my effort.

 

If I fail in taking actions to my tasks and goals, my extra income will definitely become stagnant AGAIN.

One area I plan to work out the hardest is setting a routine for the important part of my passion projects.

 

Up until today I don’t really follow a writing routine for my blogs or a filming routine for my YouTube channel. I am still behind my ideal schedule and this hinders the growth I want to happen in my extra income fund.

This actually led me to put “routines” as my word of the year for 2018. I just want to automate everything I do and really try my hardest to be as productive as I can this New Year.

 

Set monthly, weekly and daily budget

 

Budgets are so necessary in keeping your finances crystal clean.

 

When you create a budget, you are basically pointing your money which direction to go instead of the other way around.

 

For 2017 I’ve used and abused the 50-20-30 Rule of Budget wherein;

50% Essentials
20% Recreation
30% Savings and Investments

 

 

To create a spending plan is easy but to stick to it is a whole different story.

 

Just like the others, I struggle in keeping up with my budget. I mostly overspend when it comes to my food allowance.

 

 

Part of adjustment for 2018, is to ensure that I spend with intention.

I want to train myself to become a saver and practice delay gratification for the nth time.

How will I do this?

The current planner I’m using, Belle de Jour Power Planner has a Bill Tracker and Cash Flow Tracker included in the pages.

 

I find these really helpful so I can comply with my goal to budget my money wisely this 2018.

 

Watch planner reveal video here.

I also need to control my urges especially when it comes to food. I have a tendency to give up easily and buy myself whatever I crave for even if they are not in my budget.

 

 

2017 Spending Habits

 

Overall in 2017, my spending habits is a 6 out of 10.

 

I was able to spend good amount of money creating memories with friends and family, even myself.

I had a great time exploring Mt. Talamitam with my friend Armstrong. Out of the other mountains I’ve hiked, this one is definitely my favorite.

Spending 4Days and 3Nights in Baguio is also a good spend for me. I had such a great vacation! I also achieved my goals to reunite with my elementary classmates and high school friends.

The regular hang-outs with my former friends and colleagues at work is something worth it too.


One of my well-spent money for 2017 would probably be spending money for my family.

 

I was able to provide a good memory for my parents during their wedding anniversary, paying for an overnight stay at The Bayleaf Hotel.


I also treated my whole family for a buffet dinner during my birthday and even doing the grocery shopping for our Media Noche feast.


I believe it’s always a good spend when you can provide happiness and share your blessings to the people you love. No regret at all.

 

But come 2018, I would probably make some good purchases for myself too. I really want to travel and take vacation, too.


I told myself that I’ll do something once a month that makes me happy.

This would include buying one of my beauty wishlist, getting a whole body massage, hiking or just random shopping.


Something I missed last year is rewarding myself,too. My mind got too occupied minding what would make others happy that I forgot to treat myself.

 

If you have any travel plans before the year ends check out TravelBook! They provide the latest budget-friendly hotel and accommodation and offer no credit card needed, pay at hotel stays for conscious travelers. Don’t forget to use my friend code 0225 upon check out.

 

My 2017 Passion Projects

 

I was able to create some significant progress on my passion projects for 2017.

 

Getting my first ever Google AdSense payment was a memorable achievement for me.

 

I’ve been blogging for the past four years but this is only the year that I gained real income from blogging.


Both SavingsPinay and IzzaGlino are at their best in terms of look and feel.

 

I am proud with the investments I have made in 2017 from buying my own domain with Pangalan to investing in a good camera, Canon EOS M3.


Part of the biggest lessons I learned in the past 24 years is investing in your passions. You don’t have to be afraid to shell out money for the activities you are passionate about.


I also finally worked with real brands such as BeautyMNL and SilkyGirl Cosmetics for a sponsored video which feels awesome, if I may say.


Even though I didn’t exert any efforts marketing my wedding and events business, I still manage to get around 10 gigs for 2017.


As mentioned earlier, my main goal come 2018 is to set and follow routines in everything I do. I aim to be more productive and to manage my time effectively this New Year.

 

2017 Net Worth

 

To give a clean slate on my finances I decided to be share how I’m ending 2017 in terms of net worth.

 

For 2018, my goal is to double my net worth. This means, ending 2018 as half-a-millionaire.

2018 Financial Goals and Resolutions

 

There’s a big difference between New Year’s Goals and New Year’s Resolutions. In fact the very reason we fail with our goals and resolutions is because we don’t know the difference. Guilty din ako dito.

 

And so, my New Year’s Resolution when it comes to finances are:

• I want to save more than what I earn.

• I want to get stable extra income through my side hustles

• I want to diversify my investments on other vehicles and

• I want to make some milestone purchases like furniture.

 

In relation to the above, here are my financial goals for 2018:


Goal #1.

Hit 60,000php target emergency fund and save it on a passbook savings account by November 2018.

Goal #2.

Keep myself invested in the stock market but, instead being impulsive, I plan to invest 8,000php every four months on stock market.

Goal #3.

Invest in index fund by first quarter of 2018.

Goal #4.

Invest in life insurance next by first quarter of 2018.

Goal #5.

For 2018 I’m continuing the money challenge but this time I will do the 52-week Money Challenge in 20php increments.

Goal #6.

Increase my saving and investing percentage for 1% every month.

Goal #7.

Instead of buying financial books I will read ebook instead and create a book review post to share what I learned. I plan to do this for my email list only so if you are still not part you can sign up here.

Goal #8.

Host my own personal finance seminar/workshop/. This is part of my priorities this year and something I really want to check-off.

Goal #9.

Reach my goal of a six-digit extra income fund.

Goal #10.

Practice delay gratification for the nth time.

 

2018 Priority Next-Action List to Start the Year Strong

 

I am truly proud of my accomplishments but, I know there’s still much to do.

With my last year’s goals revisited, spending habits reviewed, income projects launched, net worth revealed and 2018 goals set, below are the main areas I will work harder on:

Get at least a month ahead in my blog posts

Doing this will autopilot the success of both SavingsPinay and IzzaGlino this 2018.

 

I am currently trying the whole batch process technique to get ahead of my post schedule. More about this in a separate post.

Publish new YouTube video once a week, following a different format

YouTube is such a good income stream to earn passive income.

 

Even though I lack videos I still manage to earn dollars in the platform. I can’t just abandon this passion project without doing everything I can.

 

 

There’s a new direction I want to center on come 2018. If it’s something you are interested to be a part of don’t forget to subscribe on my YouTube channel.

Provide more value to my readers

In 2018, I want to showcase how much I value my readers by providing more value content-wise and experience-wise.

 

Last year, I was able to launch the SavingsPinay Resource Library – a place to download for free templates, workbooks and other info products.

 

Sadly, I wasn’t that consistent in my action to this resource library.

 

Even my newsletter was lacking that level of consistency that will make my members/readers feel they are valuable.

 

Moving forward I plan to prioritize the following:

• Reply to blog and social media comments/messages.

• Create PDF version of everything I write as an automatic content upgrade. I saw this with Paula of Afford Anything and I can’t even express how thankful I am for this idea.

Creating a PDF version of blog post is a good way to not just collect email address but also segment my readers based on the topic most interesting or valuable to them.

• Update the Resource Library with freebies every month! Whether it be a checklist, short e-book, infographics I just need to provide something for my tribe!

Work/Hustle on the weddings and events business

 

The magic numbers I’m aiming for the wedding and events business this 2018 would be 5-1-1.

 

Meaning 5 hosting gigs, 1 wedding or event coordination gig and 1 other services gig every month starting March.

To do this, all the plans for Izza Glino Weddings and Events especially, the website should be executed.

 

January and February will be a busy month to really take action with all the pending works.

 

Final Notes from SavingsPinay

 

Do Your Own Year-End Financial Review Too!

Constant review makes a lot of difference.

Mid-year review give you the chance to make adjustments and can help you to stay conscious throughout the year.  

Year-end review, on the other hand is a good way to set yourself on a better pace for the New Year.

To recap this is how a year-end review works:

First, re-evaluate your goals.

If you set your goals at the start of the year then you can revisit each and review the status. What goal/s is/are done or accomplished already? Is there any goal that’s not relevant anymore?

Second, review your spending habits.

Find out who and how you are when it comes to spending your money lately. Are you saver or spender? Do you spend more on your needs or your wants?

 

Third, start your side hustle.

Think of a passion project you can do on the side in 2018.

 

Fourth, calculate your net-worth.

To give you a concrete road map you need to calculate your current net-worth. I provided a simple template for you to use.

 

 

Lastly, list down your next actions.

Once your done with steps 1-4, you can now make an action list. Commit yourself in doing the items written in your next action list to start the New Year strong!

 

What are your goals for 2018?

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